Time Keeps On Slipping
by mori87
Summary: Just a year after Peter and Gamora finally get together, they are hit with unexpected news.
1. Chapter 1

Gamora hated sleeping in.

It just was not a luxury she was used to. It had always been early to rise and late to bed in the care of Thanos. Any sign of tiredness or fatigue would warrant a brutal punishment from Thanos. It was either that or he would replace a new part of her with mods. She jumped into the routine rather quickly, but Nebula wasn't quite as keen.

Yet, here she was just now waking up in the late afternoon. She began to wonder what had gotten her so tired. They had been doing quite a lot of jobs for the Nova Corps, but that was never a bother to her. In fact, doing jobs is what made her feel useful in this galaxy. She no longer felt the guilt that came with being raised by the Mad Titan himself. It certainly wasn't from the activites her and Peter were doing last night. For some reason, sex always seemed to energize her instead of wear her down like it does to Peter. Terrans have always been seen as weaker to her, but in the moment she felt weaker than one.

Gamora rolled over to find herself in an empty bed. She lifted her head slightly, allowing her hair to fall rather ungracefully around her shoulders, as she rolled into an upright position on the bed. She had remembered falling asleep curled in Peter's arms once they had finished having their fun. He was nowhere to be seen now. She's not surprised he didn't wake her up. He is always on her case about needing more sleep and relaxing more. She would simply reply that there is no time for luxury when there is a galaxy at stake. She shook the tiredness from her body and rose up to stretch her arms. Gamora walked over to her drawer and slipped on some black leggings, and one of Peter's old shirts. She loved the way his shirt smelled on her body as she finally walked into the kitchen area of their ship.

" About time ya woke up. I've been workin' on repairs by myself this whole mornin'" Rocket said in an irritated voice

Gamora was quick to walk past him, rolling her eyes in the process. She saw Mantis standing over the oven in a desperate attempt at making breakfast. Groot was standing by Rocket, watching him as he was tinkering with their weapon supply.

"I am Groot." He said, running up to hug her legs.

He was about as tall as Rocket now and growing larger each day. She smiled at him and leaned down to give him a semi hug.

"I'm okay Groot. I just got caught up in my sleep a little too much. Which is what you need to start doing if you wanna continue getting bigger." She suggested. Rocket had been letting Groot stay up far too late, and she could she that he was starting to become more sluggish than he should.

Groot scurried away while Mantis beamed proudly at her creation of breakfast. It looked to be a porridge of sorts with a side of eggs. Mantis had recently taken on the role of a caretaker as she tended to them while they were injured and helped with the majority of cooking and cleaning. She had certainly grown on Gamora since their first meeting. Mantis had shown great interest in whatever Gamora was willing to teach her. Her innocence also made it a lot easier to work with her since she didn't often try to do the most perilous plan like Peter or Rocket.

"Mantis, how would you like to do a little more battle training today?" said Gamora sitting down to the table with a plate of eggs.

Mantis looked up from her cooking, smiling wide," I would enjoy that very much! I cannot wait to learn how to kick names and take ass like all of you"

"Um. it's actually take names and kick ass Mantis." Said Peter, finally walking into the kitchen and taking a seat next to Gamora. " And how is my beautiful sleepy head doing today?"

Gamora's eyes shifted towards Peter as he sat down next to her. His hair was curly and messy like always, but he seemed as happy as he ever has been. They had only been together for about a year since she admitted she found him attractive after their run with his father. He had been more than willing to start a relationship with her which still shocked her since she never thought anyone could want to be with her, Peter, however, has shown her everyday how much he adores and loves her.

Mantis handed him a bowl of porridge which he took gladly, almost instantly devouring it. Mantis seemed very pleased with this reaction causing her antennae to perk up.

"I am fine. I just decided to take your advice and give myself a chance to rest up a little." Gamora said as she began to eat her eggs.

"See, I told you I would finally get through to you. Now how does it feel to be all rested instead of cranky like you always are in the morning?" He joked with her. His eyes were shining bright as he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

Gamora looked over at him with a playful look and said, " I have no clue what you are talking about. I am perfectly pleasant in the morning time."

Right as Peter was about to speak, Rocket cut in saying, " It would've been perfectly pleasant of ya if you would've helped me with all this shit like ya said."

Gamora narrowed her eyes at the raccoon, and was about to reply to his whining when suddenly she felt sick to her stomach. She stood still and closed her eyes trying to battle down the nausea that suddenly had taken over her body.

" Mora' is everything okay?" Peter asked her as he pulled back to examine her. She shook her head and rose from the table trying to steady herself. Everyone in the room was looking at her as her body kept trying to make Mantis' breakfast reappear. Groot ran up to the table in a worried fashion using his vines to climb the table.

"I am Groot?" He said in a small voice looking up to her with his eyes round and worried.

Gamora had no time to answer him as she ran to their bathroom quarter and released the sick feeling she had been holding in. She wondered what could have caused her to get so sick. It wasn't that the breakfast tasted bad, but it was the smell that seemed to have set her off. She noticed it was quite pungent when she entered the kitchen, but she never seemed to notice until Peter sat down with his porridge right next to her.

Once she was finished releasing her contents, She went to the sink to wash out her mouth. She couldn't be sick could she? The more she thought about it, the more sense it made that she could, in fact, be sick. Around two months ago, she had Nebula remove some of the mods that had been placed in her. Nebula warned that without these mods, her body could take a toll and become weakened. Gamora didn't care though. She wanted nothing more than to begin removing every piece of Thanos from her body. Now, she wondered if it was worth it judging by her appearance,

Gamora looked like hell when she saw herself in the mirror. Her hair was more messy than she would have preferred, she had bags under eyes, and her skin was a paler green than normal. She began to examine herself to see if there was an injury she may not have known about causing her weakness. As she lifted her shirt ( actually Peter's shirt), she saw that her abdomen had discoloration right below her navel. It was a dark green color that wasn't quite a bruise, but certainly was not her normal skin color. She put her fingers on the area feeling an intense heat, but no soreness that would accompany a bruise. She pulled her hand away as she heard a knock on the door.

"Gamora? It's Peter. I'm just checking on you baby. Can I come in?" Peter said in a soft loving voice. She opened the door slightly to allow him in.

"I think I'm sick." She said as he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She prayed he wouldn't question the intense heat that she could feel from her abdomen. Instead, he placed a kiss on the inner part of her neck and nuzzled his face into her hair.

" It's okay Mora'. I get sick all the time, and you're like a total badass so i'm sure this is gonna blow over." He said in a sweet voice

" I don't get sick. I haven't gotten sick since I was a child still in the care of my mother." She said in a monotone voice. She would have to go to Mantis to see what she could do. They recently found out that she can also sense illness within people and use her powers to make them feel stronger.

" Well, I didn't get sick for a while until we killed my asshole of a father. I think my celestial genes kept me from getting sick. You remember once they were gone, I was down for like a week. Maybe it's the same with your mods being removed?" He suggested.

"Maybe. I feel like I would have experienced this sooner if that were the case." She said. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that this wasn't just an illness. Maybe her body couldn't handle being without mods after having them so long. Maybe her body would begin to shut down, and she would pass in the blink of an eye. She shook the thoughts from her head.

She turned to him and planted a kiss on his lips. He gladly reciprocated her sign of affection and pulled her in tighter. He pushed her against the sink and began deepening their kiss. She began to feel the familiar heat in her belly that comes with Peter's kisses. His hands travelled up and down her body as she pushed against him. She playfully nibbled on his ear as his hands slipped under her shirt. Her eyes opened wide as she realized her mistake and pushed him off of her, but it was too late.

"Gamora, you're burning up!" He said in a frantic voice, " C'mon, we need to get Mantis to check you out"

He grabbed her wrist and began pulling her out of the bathroom, but she yanked her hand from his grasp.

"I can go by myself Peter." She said in a low voice. Her moods have been very extreme which she blames her upcoming cycle for. This made it very difficult for her to tolerate the other guardians antics and Peter's overprotectiveness.

Sensing her mood switch, Peter backed away and said in a calm voice " Hey, I'm just looking out for my girl. I didn't mean to rush you like that."

"It's fine. I'm sorry for being in a cranky mood...I guess you are right about some things." She said softly. Peter broke out into a huge grin.

" Haha! Yes! I finally got you to say i'm right about something!" He exclaimed basically bouncing with glee. Before she could say anything, he came up and kissed her. This kiss wasn't like the one they shared in the bathroom. It was filled with happiness and love.

" You go see Mantis okay? I'm gonna go help Rocket and Groot with repairs, so he'll stop bitching about it"

Peter planted one more kiss on her cheek and walked or more like skipped off to the kitchen again. Gamora began her search for Mantis because she could see she wasn't in the kitchen anymore. She searched all over the _Benatar_ in hopes of finding her. She passed Kraglin trying to master Yondu's fin with little success. She also saw Drax snoring loudly in a chair with his knives laid out on his lap. She figured he was probably cleaning them and then passed out. When she finally found Mantis, she was hiding in the corner of her bunk that she shared with Groot.

Gamora could see that her antennas were down, and she was sniffling with tears. Gamora hurried over to comfort her.

"Mantis what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Gamora asked sitting down next to her on the bunk.

"I feel that I have failed you by fixing you a meal that made you ill." Mantis said looking to her.

"No Mantis, your food did not make me sick. I actually don't know what made me ill. That's why i'm here so you can help me."

"I don't know… I do not want to fail you again." Mantis said sadly. Gamora knew she adored praise since she rarely got any from her time with Ego. Gamora sighed and awkwardly put her arm around Mantis trying to comfort her.

"You wouldn't fail me Mantis. In fact, you can help me right now by finding out what is wrong with me." As she said that, Mantis seemed to cheer up quite a bit.

"Okay, I will try my best to help you." Mantis said.

Gamora undid their awkward hug and laid back so Mantis could use her powers. She placed her hand on Gamora's shoulders which caused her antennas to light up. Gamora waited for Mantis to give her a diagnosis. Mantis sat there looking more confused than when Drax told her she should try to shave Rocket to " save his life". Her hand slowly moved from Gamora's shoulder to the area where her belly felt like fire. As she placed her hand there, her antennas glowed brighter than Gamora had ever seen before. A genuine smile broke out on Mantis' face as she continued her assessment.

"Mantis?.. What is it? Am I okay?" Gamora said with her patience running thin.

"Life."

"Huh?"

"I feel life." Mantis said pulling her hand back but keeping the smile on her lips

"What do you mean by life?" Gamora questioned starting to feel a knot in her stomach. It couldn't be possible for her to be….expecting. She nearly threw up again as reality struck her. Her fatigue, mood swings, sickness, discoloration. They were all clear signs of pregnancy for her kind.

Gamora sat up and whispered under her breath," Fuck.". Things just got a lot more complicated.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mantis, are you one hundred percent positive about what you just said? I mean have you ever felt...that before?" Gamora said hurriedly her mind was zooming with this new found news.

"Yes, I have. When I was with Ego, he would sometimes bring his lovers to his planet. There, he would use me to test if they were carrying his children or not." She said. She was still sitting and smiling like she didn't just deliver life changing news.

Gamora sighed and put her head in her hands. Her emotions were going awol in the moment because she wanted to scream, cry, or hit something very hard. She concluded that instead she would need to keep herself together. She couldn't become weak because of this. She had handled worse news and situations before. She could handle this one.

"Mantis, look at me. You have to promise to keep this a secret. That means no one, absolutely no one can know about this okay?" Gamora said grabbing Mantis' wrists.

Mantis tilted her head in confusion and said, "Why do you not want to tell anyone? This is a good thing right?"

"It is a good thing for some people, but not for me, Mantis. Not for any of us."

"I think it would be a good thing. Now that Groot is growing fast, we can raise yet another little one." Mantis said in a happy voice.

Gamora instinctively flinched when Mantis said 'little one'. Another realization dawned on her as she remembered that Thanos was still out there in the galaxy. If he were to find out she was expecting, it could mean the end of her and her friends. That was not an option.

"Listen, Groot is by far enough to handle for us. I need to go make a call, and you need to make sure to keep your mouth closed. No one can know about this." Gamora said in a low, dangerous voice.

Mantis lost her smile and nodded her head. Gamora left the bunk in a hurry. She knew the one person she needed to call at the moment. She headed back to her room that she shared with Peter and looked around for a data pad. Once she found it, she entered in a code that would allow her to speak to her person. After a few seconds of waiting, Nebula's face appeared on the data pad with very little expression written on it.

"What is the meaning of this call, sister? You know I am quite busy." Nebula said in an annoyed voice.

Nebula had recently taken up a mission to kill the followers of Thanos. She had been very successful in tracking down the person who had implanted the mods into both Gamora and Nebula. She told Gamora in great detail how she viciously killed him and made him regret ever laying a single finger on her. Gamora would be lying if she said it didn't please her to hear that. Now, Nebula was on a path to find the people that took her from her home planet.

"I have called because I have now found myself in a bit of an..um..situation." Gamora said.

"What kind of situation?"

"One where I may or may not be expecting a..a..um.." Gamora didn't know how to go about telling Nebula. She didn't know how to tell anyone for that matter.

"A what Gamora? Spit it out." Nebula said very annoyed now.

"A baby.." Gamora whispered

"What? I didn't hear you. Hurry up, I don't have all day."

"A baby!" Gamora shouted.

Nebula's face went from annoyance to an almost confused one. Gamora waited to hear what she had to say, but every second she felt closer to throwing up again like she did earlier.

"This is a joke correct?" Nebula said as anger started to form on her face.

"What? No, this isn't a joke at all!" Gamora exclaimed.

"No, this has to be one of those jokes your singing idiot tries to do all the time because I know you are not foolish enough to get pregnant right?" She said dangerously.

Gamora's eyes pricked with tears at the question. She was already feeling bad about finding out she was pregnant. She couldn't handle Nebula's remarks too.

"It was obviously an accident, Nebula. I had no clue this was even possible." Gamora explained.

"Of course it is possible, Gamora! Did you not think it was when I removed some of your mods?" Nebula said viciously.

Gamora honestly didn't think it was possible when Nebula removes her mods. In fact, Gamora wasn't even sure which ones she removed, but looking back she guessed she should've asked.

"Please Nebula, I feel awful. I need your help. I'm not ready to be a mother." Gamora said holding back tears.

"Yeah, you're not ready. I don't think you should ever be ready because it would be foolish of you to bring a child into a world where Thanos thrives." Nebula said with high annoyance.

Gamora got angry with that remark. It wasn't that she ever wanted kids, but she sure wasn't going to let Thanos decide that for her.

"You know Thanos decides nothing for me anymore. I could have this child if I wanted to, and no one in this galaxy would stop me." Gamora said.

"Then you would be like the rest of your team. A complete idiot."

Gamora huffed and said, "Then I guess I am an idiot." And logged off the data pad.

Gamora sat up on the bed she shared with Peter placing her hand over her abdomen. She instantly felt the warmth under her touch and began to think about her future. Nebula was right that it would be dangerous bringing a child into this galaxy, yet she also thought of the time she was trapped under Thanos.

During that time, she thought she would never be more than a weapon brought up by the Mad Titan. She could never find true love, happiness, or even some good food. However, all of that happened.

She found friends to laugh with, a person to fall in love with, and a family to call her own. She learned to trust in people and find it within herself to forgive the mistakes she had made. She learned that she deserved a lot more than what she was given.

Gamora stood up and went to the closet in the room. She gathered up a bunch of the excess blankets stored in there for when they went to colder planets. She threw them into a corner and cleared out the closet space. It was a pretty large storage space that allowed them to put many boxes of weapons, rations, and body parts that Rocket liked collecting away.

This would be enough room for you, Gamora thought placing her hand on her belly. She suddenly felt a very strong urge of protectiveness for this little creation. An urge she never felt before even when she thought she lost Peter. She had no clue what she was doing, but none of them ever really did.

Just as she was moving the boxes in the closet, she heard someone walk in.

"Um, are we renovating our room?" Peter said looking at the mess she had thrown across the room.

"Oh, um, no I just really wanted to clear this space out."

"Okay…" Peter said coming to sit by her side.

That was one thing she really appreciated about Peter. He never really asked or questioned things she was doing.

"So what did Mantis say?"

Gamora looked at him and quickly lied by saying, "She couldn't really figure anything out. I think I will just have to go to a medical professional to get examined."

Peter nodded his head and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Well, good for you cause we're heading to Xandar right now." He said twirling a piece of her hair in between his fingers.

"Why? Did we get called in for a job?"

"No, Rocket and Drax just wanted to get plastered, and Groot needs new batteries for his video game."

Gamora nodded and leaned her head on Peter's shoulder. She stared at the now empty closet space trying to imagine a cot in the middle. She was drawn out of her daydream by Peter's voice.

"I was thinking that maybe after you go to the doctor, we could head to one of the really nice Xandar hotels and have a little fun" He said and began trailing his fingers across her arm.

This caused Gamora to have shivers run up her spine. She pulled her head back from his shoulder and leaned in to plant a kiss on his lips.

"Maybe we could have a little fun right now?" Gamora said suggestively laying down on her back and pulling him on top of her.

Peter gave a her a devilish smile and began kissing her neck. She threaded her fingers through his hair as his fingers travelled underneath her shirt. He stopped once he felt the warmth of her belly.

"Hey, are you feeling up to this? Because I don't want to do anything if you're not feeling good." He said gently while caressing her cheek.

Gamora cursed internally forgetting about the heat in her stomach. She placed her hand on top of his to flatten it across her stomach.

"I am fine, Peter. I would be even more fine if you kept going with what you were just doing." She said.

Peter smiled and continued to let his hands travel along her body. She instinctively grinded against his body when his hands found the sensitive part of her breast. His fingers brushed against her nipples lightly as he began to nibble on her ear. She let out a small moan of satisfaction as she allowed to let her hands to rest on his thigh.

She could tell he was already hard and began to run her hand across the outside of his pants earning her a grunt from Peter. He had lost his smile and now looked completely focused on the task at hand. He shifted his body, so she could have easier access to his member.

Peter began to slowly roll her nipples between his fingers causing her to arch her back against him. She loved it when he focused on that area of her body. Just as she was about to pull off her shirt, they both turned their heads to the sound that entered their room.

"Drax! Come on dude! Do you ever knock?" Peter exclaimed scrambling off Gamora.

Gamora sat up quickly and saw Drax standing in the doorway eating a bag of chips.

"I came here to say we are going to be in Xandar in two hours. I was going to wait till you were done before saying anything." He said stuffing another chip into his mouth.

"That is so messed up and weird Drax!" Gamora yelled.

"How? It is merely intercourse."

"Yeah! It's supposed to be a private thing between people." Peter said.

"People on my planet would often openly conceive in the public as to announce their commitment."

"That is disgusting." Peter said with a disturbed face.

"You Terrans have some weird hang ups." Drax said shaking his head.

"Dude, just get out and let us be alone." Peter said

Drax shrugged his shoulders and left the room. Peter turned around to find Gamora holding back a laugh on the floor.

Peter tried to look tough and mad but ended up letting a smile ruin his facade.

"You think that's funny huh? That I can't even enjoy a little sexy time with my girl without being interrupted." He whined as he sat down by her.

"You poor thing, what are you going to do now?" She asked playfully.

"I think now I'm gonna give you an extra fun time at the hotel tonight." He said mischievously.

"Is that so?" Gamora said smiling and pulling him down for a kiss.

They moved to their bed and began to snuggle. Gamora grabbed a bunch of the blankets she had thrown out and covered them in a bundle. As she laid with him, Gamora began to wonder what Peter would think of her being pregnant.

She knew she wanted to wait to tell him, or anyone for that matter, about the pregnancy, but she couldn't help being curious. Suddenly, a stroke of fear rose through her as she began to wonder if he would even want to keep the baby.

She didn't even know if she wanted to keep it, but the thought of Peter not wanting it made her extremely upset. He, of course, had trouble with his own parents growing up, so it wouldn't shock her if he didn't want his own kid. Gamora started to feel sick again.

"Everything okay Mora'?" Peter said rolling over to look at her.

"Yes. I'm fine." Gamora said turning to look at the ceiling.

Things were far from fine though. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in.

"I'm gonna be sick again" She said and ran to the bathroom leaving Peter in the bed.


End file.
